Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AUbrEY
Ishouldn’t care.
I repeat that to myself for the hundredth time as I click Submit Application on yet another job posting.
I feel nothing though. No magical feeling of accomplishment or any sense of hope. Just another résumé floating around somewhere in cyberspace with the thousands of others.
I close my laptop and let out a long sigh. At least I have a temporary job that keeps me distracted.
The silence in the apartment is almost unsettling. Dean and Liana left hours ago.
Normally, I’d be grateful for the peace and quiet.
Today, it just feels lonely.
I lean back in my chair, letting my eyes drift toward the windows overlooking Manhattan.
I shouldn’t care that Dean barely looked at me this morning.
He’s my boss. If anything, that’s a good thing.
Maybe we’d started getting a little too comfortable, living together. Perhaps he realized it before I did.
Still … the memory of his clipped, one-worded answers keeps replaying in my head.
I pull my knees up against my chest.
Did I do something?
The question has been circling my brain all morning. Maybe yesterday finally crossed a line.
What if he regrets inviting me to spend so much time with him?
Maybe—
I stop myself. No, I’m not doing this. I’m not going to invent problems that probably don’t exist. Besides … I have enough real problems.
I glance at my laptop again. Six more applications. That makes twenty-three since moving to New York.
I lean back in my chair and look back out at Manhattan. I’m living in the most amazing city in the world. I refuse to let myself become one of those people who sits around, waiting for life to happen.
I need to get out of this apartment. Even if it’s only for an hour.
The little café beside the building is busier than I expected for a Saturday afternoon.
The smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon greets me the second I step inside. This is exactly what I need.
I order an iced vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin before finding an empty table by the front windows.
For twenty blissfully uninterrupted minutes, I manage not to think about Dean at all.
Instead, I watch people walking dogs, couples pushing strollers, and tourists taking pictures of buildings they’ll probably never remember the names of.
My cup is empty by the time I decide to head back upstairs.
As I step outside, someone rounds the corner at the exact same time.
“Oh!” I gasp as my hand goes to my heart.
I stumble backward just enough to keep from crashing into him.
“I’m so sorry,” he says quickly, reaching out as if to steady me before thinking better of it. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
I smile. “It’s okay. I wasn’t exactly paying attention either.”
He laughs. “I guess we’re both guilty.”
He’s probably in his early thirties, dressed casually in dark jeans and a navy quarter-zip with sunglasses resting on top of his head. He’s very handsome, and he seems friendly. The kind of guy who smiles with his whole face.
“I’ve seen you around before,” he says. “You live here?”
I nod toward the high-rise behind us. “Yeah.”
His eyebrows lift. “No kidding? Me too.” He extends his hand. “Jeremy.”
“Aubrey.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you.”
I shake his hand. “You too.”
He nods toward the building. “What floor?”
“Oh …” I smile awkwardly. “The penthouse.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “The penthouse?”
“I know how that sounds.”
He laughs. “I was going to say … either you’re doing incredibly well for yourself or there’s a story there.”
“There is.”
His grin grows. “I was hoping there might be. I know who lives up there.”
I laugh for what feels like the first time all day. “There definitely is a story.”
He slips both hands into his pockets. “So … what’s the story?”
“I’m a live-in nanny.”
Realization washes across his face. He glances toward the building again.
“That’s got to be one of the coolest places to live in Manhattan.”
I can’t argue with that. “It does have its perks.”
He nods once before taking a small step backward. “Well”—he smiles again— “I’m glad we finally bumped into each other.”
A tiny laugh escapes me. “Literally.”
“Exactly.” He points toward the entrance. “I hope I run into you again.”
“I’ll probably be around.”
“Good.”
With one last smile, he turns and heads toward the building, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, watching him disappear inside.
He was nice. Really nice actually. And objectively … very attractive.
So, why does my mind immediately wander back to a blue-eyed billionaire who barely looked at me over coffee this morning?
I sigh.
Apparently, I have terrible taste in men.
By the time I make it back upstairs, the apartment is still empty.
I spend the rest of the afternoon organizing Liana’s dresser, folding tiny sleepers that somehow seemed to multiply overnight, and refilling the basket of diapers beside her changing table.
Anything to keep my mind busy.
Around five thirty, I hear the familiar ding of the private elevator.
My stomach does the same ridiculous little flip it always seems to do when I know Dean’s home.
I smooth my hands down my leggings.
Dean steps inside, carrying Liana, who appears to be asleep, in her car seat.
“Hi,” I say quietly as he walks farther into the room. “Did you have a good visit?”
“We did,” Dean answers. His tone is pleasant and professional.
He crouches to set the diaper bag on the floor before carefully lowering the car seat onto the ground.
“I’m going to put her in the swing and relax for a bit,” he tells me before he takes her out of the seat and walks away.
I stare at his back for a split second before taking the hint that he does not want me to join and walk toward my bedroom.
I can’t shake the feeling that something fundamental has shifted.
Yesterday, Dean would’ve asked me to stay or made me at least feel welcome enough to if I wanted.
He would’ve asked about my afternoon or sat at the island while I warmed Liana’s bottle, and somehow, we’d have ended up talking about everything and nothing.
Today … it feels like there’s an invisible wall between us. One I don’t remember building.
Maybe this morning wasn’t my imagination after all, and this is just how things are going to be now.
I blink away the disappointment before it has a chance to settle any deeper.
He’s my boss. He’s allowed to set boundaries.
I just wish it didn’t feel so much like I was losing a friend.